As I mentioned agape love is not driven by selfish incentives. Loving others
because they love us is quite common in the world. But agape love goes
beyond that. The god of Islam only loves those who love him, but does not
love his enemies. But of the God of the Bible it is written, "God
so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes
in him shall not perish but have eternal life."John
3:16 and "if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to
him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled,
shall we be saved through his life!"Romans 5:10 And so also
Jesus instructs God's children, "Love your
enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray
for those who mistreat you."Luke 6:27,28 For "If
you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’
love those who love them." Luke 6:32 For God "is
kind to the ungrateful and wicked."Luke 6:35bAre
you kind to people who are ungrateful to you? Do you become embittered
when you do something for someone and receive nothing in return or perhaps
even receive insult in return? Does the fact that you will most likely
get nothing back from the wicked when you give to them hinder you from
giving?"Love your enemies, do good to
them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your
reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High." Luke
6:35a This is not to say that we should be driven to meet just any
whim or desire whether of friend or enemy. Nor does this mean that we need
to develop friendships or a phileo love for our enemies (see part 1). But
we should allow empathy to drive us to meet the needs of people.
The Jews justified their hatred for their enemies with Leviticus
19:18 "love your neighbor as yourself" and then proceeded to
interpret "neighbor" to apply only to a very limited context and infer
that love is supposed to be limited to that context outside of which one
should hate others. And thus Jesus said, "You
have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’"
Mat
5:43 and goes on to instruct them to "Love
your enemies". He was not contradicting the Old Testament.
For the God never says to hate your enemy. But the Jews through their own
traditions developed this saying. Thus Jesus introduced the
parable of the good Samaritan to illustrate what he had in mind.
Samaritans are reckoned enemies and held in contempt in the Jewish mindset
as no doubt were Jews to the Samaritan mindset. But it was the good Samaritan
who behaved more as a child of God than the elitist Jews in helping this
stranger who was apparently a Jew traveling from Jerusalem. These days
especially we live in a world surrounded by enemies of the gospel. We need
not make them our friends, as some preachers demand, but rather that we
love them by providing for their needs.
"If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at
peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for
God’s wrath, for it is written: 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' says
the Lord. On the contrary: 'If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if
he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap
burning coals on his head.' Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome
evil with good." Romans 12:18-20